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Thursday, 27 December 2012

The 2012-2013 NCA Tour has begun quite similarly to the 2011-2012 tour as Brian Cook has once again had a perfect Fall crokinole season. In November he was once again declared the “King” of Scenic City crokinole after winning the tournament held in Owen Sound for the second straight year.

Coming into the tournament the NCA points race was really starting to take shape. Jon Conrad led the Tour with 198 points, and Brian Cook sat with 150 points after only 3 tournaments. Well it was Jon Conrad who finished second in Scenic City, boosting his total score by four points to a total of 202, now leading Brian Cook by a slim two point lead with several tournaments to play.

The biggest thing to note is that since the NCA tracks the top 4 finishes in a year, both Conrad and Cook are now just trying to improve their point total. For Cook, winning any tournament between now and the NCA finale will not improve his total score as his lowest tournament score is 50 points. The only chance he has at improving his score is by finishing in the top two in St. Jacob’s, with a maximum total score of 205. However, finishing well at tournaments could be quite beneficial for Cook as he may attempt to limit the amount of points his competitors own. Jon Conrad is in a completely different position. Leading the Tour with 202 points, and he can still improve his score by another 13 points. His two lowest scores are 45 and 47, meaning that if he were to win another title, or finish in the top three in St. Jacob’s, he would clinch the NCA Tour victory for the season.

Finishing third at the Scenic City Tournament was Ray Beierling, who earned 45 points to boost his total to 185, to sit in 4th on the Tour behind Fred Slater with 192. Finishing in a well-deserved 4th place in Owen Sound was Howard Martin.

And here’s a look at the updated CrokinoleCentre Rankings of the Top 30 players:

Rank

Name

Points

1

Brian Cook

305.5

2

Jon Conrad

298

3

Fred Slater

295

4

Ray Beierling

287.5

5

Jason Beierling

282.5

6

Nathan Walsh

264.5

7

Eric Miltenburg

263.5

8

Clare Kuepfer

252

9

Louis Gauthier

245

10

Howard Martin

236

11

Matt Brown

235.5

12

Joe Arnup

231

13

Justin Slater

230

14

Paul Brubacher

226.5

15

Greg Matthison

220.5

16

Ron Haymes

219.5

17

Kent Robinson

210

18

Dave Brown

204

19

Nathan Jongsma

189.5

20

John Harvey

189

21

Jason Carter

188.5

22

Rex Johnston

187

23

Chris Gorsline

181.5

24

Brian Miltenburg

167

25

Wayne Gingerich

162.5

26

Rob Mader

160.5

27

Bob Mader

150

28

Ray Haymes

148

29

Marlin Lichti

146

30

Bill Freeman

133

And here’s a look at the Singles Rankings:

Rank

Singles Only

Points

1

Brian Cook

305.5

2

Jon Conrad

288

3

Ray Beierling

283.5

4

Jason Beierling

276

5

Eric Miltenburg

262.5

6

Fred Slater

259

7

Nathan Walsh

232.5

8

Clare Kuepfer

232

9

Louis Gauthier

222.5

10

Howard Martin

214

11

Joe Arnup

194.5

12

Paul Brubacher

194

13

Matt Brown

178

14

Greg Matthison

168.5

15

Brian Miltenburg

167

16

Justin Slater

154

17

Nathan Jongsma

147.5

18

Jason Carter

143.5

19

Kent Robinson

135

20

Ron Haymes

127

21

Rob Mader

126.5

22

Chris Gorsline

117.5

23

Dave Brown

116.5

24

John Harvey

104

25

Marlin Lichti

98

26

Rex Johnston

95

27

Dennis Ernest

94.5

28

Wayne Gingerich

87.5

29

Bob Mader

85.5

30

Ray Haymes

75.5

As you can see, not much has changed since the last Rankings update as the scores become much more consistent as the rankings begin to take shape.

And so that concludes the 2012 portion of the crokinole season. Even though the competitive side of crokinole will break for the holidays, there is sure to be much crokinole in play as families gather to rekindle one of the oldest family traditions over the Christmas break.

Join us once again in the new year of 2013 as we continue to follow the 2012-2013 NCA Tour, picking up with the Golden Horseshoe Tournament in Hamilton on January 26th.

Thursday, 20 December 2012

For the third straight year Brian Cook and Fred Slater have been crowned the Ontario Doubles Champs, defeating a stacked field of opponents all looking to gun them down. The Toronto pairing have been quite successful despite never playing together at any other tournament, with the exception of the BC Championships. Speaking of which, they have earned the right, or rather the voucher of cash prizes to travel to BC and participate in the tournament, if they so choose. If they can fit it into their schedule they will be returning to defend their BC Doubles crown and a 1-2 singles finish.

Other strong finishes in the tournament included Jason and Raymond Beierling, tournament hosts, finishing in second. Their runner-up finish means that Brian Cook and Fred Slater have won the tournament in 3 straight years against 3 different opponents in the championship match. In those 3 years, Jason and Ray have been quite successful with back-to-back third place finishes in 2010 and 2011. Finishing in third place were Jon Conrad and Barry Kiggins to back up their runner-up performance in 2010.

NCA Tour Rankings

Both Cook and Slater will also gain some serious NCA points to bump up their ranking. Cook was sitting outside the top 5, due to him having only recorded points in two tournaments where everyone else had 3. And early in the season he will be up to a total of 150 points. Another victory anywhere in the season will push his total to 200 with a chance of reaching 205 points if he wins the NCA finale, all in the effort of chasing down Jon Conrad after his massive start to the 2012-2013 tour when he won 2 world titles.

Conrad had 153 points heading into the tournament and this score will move him up to 198, with lots of room to improve on his lower scores of 43 and 45 with several tournaments left on the NCA Tour. A victory in any tournament before the NCA final will guarantee a 2nd place finish on the Tour and a fantastic chance at winning the top prize. He still retains the top spot on the NCA Tour, just ahead of Fred Slater in second place.

It's hard to believe that 7 months before the NCA finale, also known as the Ontario Singles Championship, the Tour seems as though it will be decided among 2 men. The only foreseeable way anyone else could put pressure on Cook and Conrad is by winning 3 tournaments before the NCA finale. Definitely a tough task as no tournament is without several tough competitors and only 3 Ontario events remain before the tour finals.

Meanwhile, players like Fred Slater, Ray Beierling and Justin Beierling have amassed a decent amount of points this season with a chance for many more. But if they want to do more than challenge for the top 3 or the top 5, they will have to win a few tournaments.

To come in a few days: the slightly less late review of the 2012 Scenic City Crokinole Tournament.

Monday, 19 November 2012

This Saturday, November 24, Owen Sound will host the NCA in its final tour stop of the 2012 calendar year. In its second year the tournament will be looking to see who is the King of Scenic City Crokinole.

Last year it was Brian Cook who took the first ever Scenic City Crokinole title to cap off a Fall crokinole season in which he went undefeated to sweep all three tournaments. Now in 2012 he is looking to repeat after wins in Belleville and Brucefield, after teaming up with Fred Slater.

According to tournament organizer, (Owen Sound and Scone crokinole club member, as well as the reigning PEI Doubles Champion) Clare Kuepfer competition is looking fierce with a few days until the tournament.

(Follow Clare Kuepfer on Twitter @sconecrokinole)

Already confirming their attendance are crokinole contingents from Belleville, Toronto, St. Jacob’s, and the USA (just a little south of the border). In the lineup is the reigning World Crokinole Champion along with 3 former singles World Champions, and a decent sized collection of homegrown crokinole talent ready to challenge all visiting players.

And with five days left until the tournament all we can ask is who will ascend the throne as Prince (2nd place) and King of Scenic City Crokinole.

Monday, 22 October 2012

This Saturday October 27, 2012, Brucefield will be the host of this year’s Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championships (ODCC). One of the best NCA tour stops in the year will once again hold the best doubles talent around. The two-time defending Ontario Doubles Champs are the Toronto pairing of Brian Cook and Fred Slater. They've claimed the only two ODCC titles with wins over Jon Conrad and Barry Kiggins in 2010, and over Eric Miltenburg and Joe Arnup in 2011. CrokinoleDepot’s own Raymond and Jason Beierling have twice finished in the top 4.

The tournament title is of great importance as all winning prize money is donated to the top team to attend the following BC Provincial Crokinole Championships held in March. In 2011 Fred Slater used his bid to score a second place in the singles category of the 2011 BC tournament. In 2012 Brian Cook and Fred Slater attended the event and scored a doubles victory followed by a 1-2 finish in the singles division.

This year’s tournament may prove to be the best yet. Jon Conrad and Tony Snyder may not team up, but both return as World Doubles Champions. Fred Slater and Brian Cook return as the Ontario and British Columbia Doubles Champions, while Fred Slater also recently finished 2nd in the doubles category at the World Championships. 6-time World Champions, the Beierling Brothers will attempt to improve on two consecutive top 4 finishes at the Ontario Championships. They arrive at the tournament after a 7th place finish in doubles at the World Championships and a 4th and 5th place finish in the singles competition. Ron and Ray Haymes come in to the tournament as the 3rd best doubles team in the World. Clare Kuepfer will come in as one half of the PEI Provincial Doubles Championship team. And the Belleville club will arrive having put two teams into the top 4 of the World Championships in the last two years as Dave and Matt Brown finished 2nd in 2011 and Louis Gauthier and Chris Gorsline finished 4th is 2012. Eric Miltenburg and Joe Arnup will look to avenge their finals loss in 2012. And the best part about the ODCC is that there is always a couple of teams, that you would never have expected, who will make an impact.

Either way, get your game face on, and your strategy prepared for the 2012 Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championships.

For more info about the tournament and to register visit http://www.nationalcrokinoleassociation.com/tournaments.php

Friday, 19 October 2012

So I've received feedback from some on the CrokinoleCentre Rankings, which were released a month ago. The feedback was from players prominently featured in the rankings, which is encouraging, because it shows that the best in the game are at least interested in them.

Much positive feedback has been received about the 2 year format, and it will be interesting to see how the rankings change over time.

One suggestion was to separate the singles and doubles categories of the rankings and release two different sets. The main reasoning for this was to eliminate the possibility that any one player could receive a large amount of points based on having a strong partner. My two main concerns with doing this are: 1. There are not enough doubles tournaments in the year for a solely doubles ranking to be accurate. and 2. Doubles is a unique part of crokinole that emphasizes different skills and strategies. I think that by eliminating doubles results, a true standing of a player cannot be realized. For example, singles focuses largely on 20's scoring, and open 20 shots. It's no surprise that those who score the most 20's are at the top of the rankings. And to go further, singles play is usually confined to play inside the 15 circle with most players "peeling" discs off, to force play back to the middle, whenever a disc ventures outside. The same cannot be said for doubles where multiple discs are on the board, and because partners sit opposite each other, every disc is in play, making ricochet shots extremely important.

With that said I've decided to release two sets of rankings. One to include both doubles and singles (my personal preference) and another to include only singles rankings. It will be interesting to see the differences between the two formats, and get a clearer idea of who the best singles players are.

So here are the full CrokinoleCentre rankings.

Rank

Name

Points

1

Brian Cook

305.5

2

Jon Conrad

298.5

3

Fred Slater

296.5

4

Ray Beierling

285.5

5

Jason Beierling

281.5

6

Eric Miltenburg

270.5

7

Nathan Walsh

264.5

8

Joe Arnup

262.5

9

Clare Kuepfer

248.5

10

Louis Gauthier

244.5

11

Ron Haymes

240

12

Paul Brubacher

239

13

Matt Brown

235

14

Howard Martin

232.5

15

Justin Slater

230

16

Rex Johnston

226.5

17

Greg Matthison

220.5

18

Dave Brown

219.5

19

Jason Carter

192.5

20

Nathan Jongsma

189.5

21

Kent Robinson

167

22

Brian Miltenburg

167

23

Chris Gorsline

165.5

24

Rob Mader

160.5

25

Bob Mader

150

26

Ray Haymes

148

27

John Harvey

146

28

Marlin Lichti

146

29

Bill Freeman

133

30

Rich Mader

130.5

As you can see Brian Cook remains on top for the 2nd straight tournament, Nathan Walsh moves up from 8th to 7th, Louis Gauthier cracking the top 10 and Matt Brown moving up well to 13th. Obviously not a whole lot of movement but that is to be expected with a ranking system that takes place over 2 years. With the official release of the WCC points there are quite a few new faces on the list who now hold their rightful positions in the rankings, which I was unable to capture with the first ranking release.

And here is a similar, but different, only singles ranking.

Rank

Singles Only

Points

1

Brian Cook

305.5

2

Jon Conrad

284

3

Jason Beierling

278.5

4

Ray Beierling

277.5

5

Eric Miltenburg

266.5

6

Fred Slater

263.5

7

Joe Arnup

235.5

8

Nathan Walsh

232.5

9

Clare Kuepfer

228.5

10

Louis Gauthier

222

11

Paul Brubacher

215.5

12

Howard Martin

204

13

Greg Matthison

168.5

14

Brian Miltenburg

167

15

Dave Brown

154.5

16

Justin Slater

154

17

Nathan Jongsma

147.5

18

Jason Carter

143.5

19

Matt Brown

137

20

Kent Robinson

135

21

Ron Haymes

127

22

Rob Mader

126.5

23

Chris Gorsline

117.5

24

John Harvey

104

25

Marlin Lichti

98

26

Rex Johnston

95

27

Dennis Ernest

94.5

28

Wayne Gingerich

87.5

29

Bob Mader

85.5

30

Ray Haymes

75.5

As we can see the top 3 changes as it's Cook, Conrad and Jason Beierling. It's an interesting shuffle as Fred Slater falls 3 spots, Jason Beierling pops ahead of Ray Beierling and Eric Miltenburg rounds out the top 5. Joe Arnup slides back ahead of Nathan Walsh, but the rest stay pretty much the same. Overtime the singles rankings should be much more open to change as less tournaments give way for a greater chance of players shifting positions.

A fault in the this system though is that including the top 4 singles results is almost gives way for too much variance. Take Ray Beierling for example. The 2011 World Champ, 2011 London Champ, and 2012 runner up in Belleville and London, as well as 4th in 2012 World Championships should put him in at least the top 3. But here he is 4th. But if the results were restricted to the top 3 singles he would be placed higher. However, I like the idea of 4 singles results to add to consistency, even if it does lower the score of some players at the moment. It especially hurts those who don't make 4 singles events in a year but still make 4 NCA events. But that's why there is one ranking to combine doubles and singles, and this one for only singles.

Meanwhile on the NCA Tour, the rankings are beginning to take shape. Jon Conrad holds a commanding lead but the outcome of these early fall tournaments will show how much competition he will face for the overall title this season.

The next big tournament is the Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championship held by CrokinoleDepot. One of the best tour stops in the year will once again hold the best doubles talent around for a date set on October 27th in Brucefield. Look to signup on the NCA site: nationalcrokinoleassociation.com.

About Me

CrokinoleCentre was created to capture the competitive crokinole scene. It is hoped that Crokinole Centre will help stimulate interest in the competitive side of crokinole, and bring the game to the next level. If you have a crokinole story, club, or tournament to share, let CrokinoleCentre know.